Magic School Bus: Shuffle
by LoveOnTheInside
Summary: A challenge I was inspired to do from another author. Ten songs, ten ficlets inspired by each song. Rated teen for random swearing.


The idea is you put your iPod on shuffle, and write a short ficlet inspired by each song that comes on (for ten songs.) The catch is you're only allowed to write for as long as the song lasts - typically three or four minutes.

It really forces you to go with your first impression/idea. It's really challenging and _lots_ of fun. Very addicting once you get going - I'd definitely recommend you give it a go if you think it sounds exciting! Just choose a fandom, character or pairing, and grab your iPod!

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><p><strong>LISA'S SAX: THE SIMPSONS<strong>

It was May fifth, but it was better known as Senior Cut Day for the seniors of Walkerville High School. Instead of leaving class in the middle of first block to go see the new Madea movie, like the majority of his senior class, Carlos decided to have Simpsons party in the basement of his house. He and his friends would spend the day, watching the first ten seasons of the Simpsons and eat Simpsons related food-Squishes, Invisible Cola, Hi-C and Fluffernutters, pizza (he even managed to find duck sausage), doughnuts; some with pink frosting and some with "purple stuff", pork chops, pork rinds, "Krusty" burgers among many others, including a vegetarian selection for Phoebe. The night before, he and his dad and even Mikey decorated the basement to look like the Simpsons living room. He hoped things would be perfect by the time his friends arrived.

Dorothy Ann was the last to arrive at 9:30 a.m. and after helping themselves to the smorgasbord of food, Carlos put in disc one of the Simpsons season one and the party was underway.

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><p><strong>SHOW ME THE MEANING OF BEING LONELY: BACKSTREET BOYS<strong>

Phoebe sat on the porch swing of her house. Tears were falling heavily from her eyes. Ever since she and Arnold broke up, she's had this empty void in her heart. Arnold was her first for everything-kiss, serious boyfriend, first boy she's lost her virginity to. Arnold said he felt their relationship was going nowhere, but a couple of days after their breakup, a friend close to her said she caught him and Wanda damn near having sex at the movie theater. (During Alvin and Chipmunks, mind you)

Everywhere she looked, everywhere she went, she saw happy couples. Happy couples kissing. Happy couples holding hands. Happy couples making those annoying hand hearts for their Facebook profile picture. On the outside, she would roll her eyes or mutter 'get a room' under her breath, but deep down inside, she missed doing those things with Arnold.

Two Saturdays after they had broken up, she decided to go to Pizza Hut with Keesha to take her mind off things. They split a half pepperoni, half cheese pizza and talked about their upcoming trip to California. Their families go year and had been since their senior year. As they complied a list of the rides they wanted to go on at Universal Studios, Arnold and Wanda came in, holding hands. Phoebe, who was facing the door, nearly choked on her Diet Coke when they walked in.

"Pheebs? Are you okay?" Keesha asked, concerned at the hostess led them to a table, right across the aisle from them. Phoebe didn't answer. Instead, she stood up, tears stinging her eyes. She ran out Pizza Hut, down the street and to Walkerville City Park. There, she curled up on the bench and sobbed.

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><p><strong>BORN IN THE USA: BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN<strong>

The Fourth of July celebration was underway and the Fab 8, as they called themselves were ready for a night of fun. They carpooled to Edgewater Park in Wanda's Ford Expedition. After seeing some of the local entertainment, they did a few art projects-the girls made colored sand in a bottle while the guys made headbands. Then, they gathered in front of the TV camera to be filmed for the ten-o-clock news.

"Wanda, do you really need to apply make up?" Keesha asked as Wanda applied blush and eyeliner. "We're only gonna be on for ten seconds!"

"I gots 'ta look good, regardless" Wanda replied as she added her favorite lipgloss that REEKED of many different fruits.

"Whoa! It smells like a pineapple farted on a melon!" Ralphie cried, holding his nose. Everyone around them, except Wanda laughed. She just rolled her eyes.

"Bitch, please. This gloss makes my lips look fuller" she continued, making kissy faces.

"Or makes you look like you have D.S.L's" Dorothy Ann muttered.

"What?" Wanda asked, crinkling her eyebrows.

"Nothing" Dorothy Ann replied

"What are D.S.L's?" Phoebe asked, curiously.

"Never mind!"

After they filmed their segment for the news, they got food from the various food stands and sat on the grass, overlooking the lake. The sun was setting and the sky was casting beautiful shades of orange, pink and purple. There was a slight chill coming from the water, but it felt good since it was pretty hot that day.

"Oh, I love dusk." Phoebe said as she munched on popcorn.

"Me too." Keesha commented as she dipped her fries into the nacho cheese. She popped a cheese soaked fry into her mouth and continued, "I love the colors"

"I love the crisp air of dusk. Great for working out or running" Ralphie said as he stole one of Keesha's fries.

"Yeah, it reminds me of the time I had sex in fresh, fallen leaves" Wanda said, dreamily to her Mountain Dew. Her friends glanced at her, but didn't press on the issue. They sort of learned to ignore Wanda's sex talks.

"It's the best when you're at the Gulf Coast or the ocean and the waves are crashing at your feet" Carlos spoke up. He took Dorothy Ann's hand and they smiled at each other. The two would spend their second anniversary at Myrtle Beach in August, and they were excited.

Tim, who had been silent, just smiled and nodded as he made a sketch of the sunset.

When it was finally dark enough, the Fab 8 found places to sit at the water's edge for the fireworks display. It was slightly more chillier than it was when they ate, so they gathered into boy/girl pairs to snuggle and keep warm-Wanda with Tim, Phoebe with Arnold, Keesha with Ralphie, and Dorothy Ann with Carlos. As the skies burst with reds, blues, greens and whites, each couple shared a kiss. It was the perfect end to a fun day.

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><p><strong>THE MORE WE GET TOGETHER: KIDSONGS KIDS.<strong>

"I cannot wait to go to Camp Lakota!" Wanda said as she helped her mom to pack the last of clothes into her suitcase. This was her first time away from home for two weeks and she was beyond excited.

"I know, sweetie" Ms. Li replied as she added a few undergarments to the side pocket of Wanda's black rolling suitcase. She wasn't as excited because she wasn't used to Wanda being away from home longer than a weekend. Even when she visited her dad in Indianapolis, she was only gone five days. She didn't know how she would make it two weeks!

"It's gonna so be so much fun! Sleeping in the cabin, camping, swimming! But…" Wanda said, stopping short as her voice trailed off. Normally tough and not afraid of anything, she was a little nervous about being away from home for so long. "I am gonna miss you and William" Her eyes began to fill with tears and she quickly wiped them away. Only babies cried and she far from a baby.

"I'm gonna miss you too, sweetie!" Ms. Li said as she pulled Wanda into a hug. William toddled into the room and wrapped himself around Wanda's leg.

"Willie want hug too!" he said. Wanda let go of her mom and scooped up the toddler into a hug.

"I'm gonna miss you baby brother…" she began as she got whiff of William's now poopy diaper. She held him away at arm's length. "But not your stinky diapers. Get potty trained while I'm away, squirt!"

William giggled as Ms. Li took him into her arms. She chuckled and said "I'm gonna change him. You make sure you have everything!"

"Okay, mom" She also didn't know how she would make it two weeks sleeping in a strange place, but since Keesha, Carlos and Janet were also attending Camp Lakota, she knew it wouldn't be bad.

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><p><strong>EBAY (PARDOY OF 'I WANT IT THAT WAY') BY WEIRD AL YANKOVIC<strong>

Ralphie loved to collect weird things-Elvis salt and pepper shakers, jackets, board games from the 1970s, pins and buttons, toys, you name it. It all started when he walked into the thrift store one day after school. He had a little bit of birthday money left and wanted to buy something, but, he couldn't think of what he wanted to buy. He received enough video games for his Xbox 360, PS2, Wii and Nintendo DS and wanted to beat a few before he bought some new ones.

As he walked down the aisles, he hoped something would catch his interest. When he got to the toy section, he found a bags full of small, miscellaneous toys, and they were only a dollar each. He had twenty bucks, so he chose three. He figured he could use them to play war. He wandered over to the book section. He found a couple books on sports for two dollars each. He found an old metal bat for five dollars, and baseball for two. After selecting a (fake) Cleveland Cavilers jersey for four dollars, he paid for his haul and went home.

"I like that store" he commented to himself. "I'm gonna have to go back there when I get more money"

Almost three years later, his closet was full of junk he found at thrift stores. Grandpa Tennelli even had to build a shed for his junk, because he made such a fuss when his mom threatened to throw them out. Now, even his shed was starting to fill up. Most things he bought, because it looked cool. Some things, he truly needed, like jeans and t-shirts and a bike for parts to rebuild his old one that got run over by the garbage truck.

He also liked to look on eBay for unusual things. Various things he bought were gag items like fangs, joke toilet paper, big, wax lips, old coins, a fart machine

One day, Carlos, Arnold and Tim came over to play baseball. However, with all his junk, it was hard to find what he needed. The guys looked around his room while Ralphie looked in his shed. He decided to look in his closet and he got a big surprise when he did. The second he opened that closet door, he was nearly buried under his junk. Tim and Carlos started laughing their heads off as Ralphie poked his through his junk.

Arnold just shook his head "You're such a hoarder, Ralphie!"

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><p><strong>ON THE SHOULDERS OF GIANTS: JENNIFER NETTLES<strong>

"HOW?" Dorothy Ann screeched to a scared looking Carlos. "How the hell could you cheat on me? With Arnold's damn cousin? What does that pompous airhead have that I don't?"

"D.A., calm down." Carlos said as he put a hand to her shoulder. She smacked it away like a pair of dirty underwear. "Let me explain. We were drunk…"

Dorothy Ann rolled her eyes. "Oh, you were DRUNK. You were DRUNK and you decide to sleep with Janet! Oh, that's real good Carlos Esteban Ramon. You know, you haven't been the loving boyfriend I once knew. For the past year and half, you have broken so many promises to me. You promised to take me to the movies, but you bailed out on me, to go see the Steelers. You promised to take me out for our anniversary, but I get a call from Wanda Li of all people, telling me she's seeing my boyfriend of two and a half years fucking some redhead bimbo in a Jacuzzi. What did I do to you? What did I do to you to make you not love me anymore?" As Dorothy Ann said this, tears streamed down her face. She didn't bother to wipe them.

Carlos took a couple of steps back. He knew he was in big trouble when his middle name was used. He loved Dorothy Ann, he really did. At times, he just had a funny way of showing it. And, he hated that he put trivial things ahead of their relationship. Now that he slept (or rather had sex) with Janet Pearlstein, he knew things wouldn't be exactly the same anymore.

"Dorothy Ann, I am really sorry. I know being drunk doesn't make up for the fact I slept with Janet. You're the first girl I ever loved. I don't want to lose you" he replied, close to tears himself.

Dorothy Ann wiped her tears on the sleeve of her stripped long sleeve shirt. "I know it doesn't, but you've hurt me so many time, I just can't take it anymore. I'm sorry"

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><p><strong>BABY GIRL-SUGARLAND<strong>

When Keesha left to attend Agnes Scott College in Decatur, Georgia, she knew she had to make her grandmother, Ruth, and her mom, Sharon proud. Sharon gave birth to Keesha at age 18, so she never got the chance to attend college herself. She barely made it through her senior year and Keesha's dad wasn't a part of her life. When Keesha was two, Sharon decided to enlist in the Army. Since she didn't want to make her daughter move constantly, she decided to leave Keesha in the custody of her grandmother. It was hard not seeing her mom, but she knew she had to make an income.

Her first few weeks in Georgia, she was very homesick. She missed home, and wanted to return to Walkverville. Sharon and Ruth made it easier by visiting every week and sending care packages and money twice a month. Keesha decided to major in communications. She didn't know exactly what career path she wanted to take, but she knew she was headed down a great one. During her second year, she decided to double major to become both a writer AND a broadcaster and minor in marketing. A quarter of the people she talked to either wanted to be a doctor, nurse, pediatrician or an obstetrician but Keesha liked doing things differently. It was slightly harder double majoring. It meant extra classes and staying in Decatur in the summer for summer courses, but she knew it was worth it in the end.

During her senior year, she got an paid internship with the television network, BET. That internship turned into a real job after graduation. She was in charge of pitching stories for BET news. It was hard work, but so worth seeing the proud looks on her mom and grandmother's faces when she paid for their airfare for them to stay with her at her apartment during the month of December.

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><p><strong>CIRCLE: SUGARLAND (ORIGINALLY BY EDIE BRICKWELL)<strong>

Phoebe stared at the building that was Walkerville Day School. Three years ago, when she was in the third grade she transferred over to Walkerville Elementary and met seven new friends (well, eight if you count Janet, which sometimes she didn't) She became really close to these people to the point she didn't call her old friends-Steven, Jennifer, Jonas, and Brenda. At Walkerville Day, they did everything together-choir, soccer, science club and schoolyard guards. It was nice to have a group of friends because she was painfully shy.

When they got their AOL Kids e-mails, she barely got the chance to email her Walkerville Day friends back because she was always going somewhere with Wanda or Keesha or Arnold. Occasionally, Phoebe and the rest of Ms. Frizzle's original class went on the crazy field trips with the fiery redhead, some lasting until the next morning. Because of this, she missed the christening of Jennifer's twin younger brother and sister, Steven's brother's Bar Mitzvah, and Brenda's basketball games.

Now, it was the eve of middle school and all of them were attending Walkerville Middle School. She decided to relive the first three and a half years of elementary school by visiting her old school. She saw Brenda and Steven playing basketball with a few people she didn't know. She walked right up to the gate. "Hi, Brenda, hi Steven!" she said happily. Brenda, Steven, and their friends glanced at Phoebe like she made a rude noise.

"Who is that, Bren and Steve-o?" an African American girl with dreads asked.

"Eh, it's no one" Brenda replied as she passed the ball to Steven. A tall, redheaded boy, who was strikingly similar to Arnold. Those words stung Phoebe and she felt her stomach drop. She hasn't been neglecting her friends for that long, has she? Sure, she forgot to reply to a lot of emails, but she still cared about her friends.

"But, she knows your names" the girl continued as Steven passed the ball to her.

"Yeah, well…" Steven didn't finish his thought and the group continued to play basketball. Phoebe quickly ran from the court. Feelings of guilt washed over her. She never meant to hurt her friends, and wished she tried a little harder to keep in contact. Now that middle school was starting, she wanted to give contacting them another try. She hoped she could at least have a class or lunch with them because she missed them a lot. Phoebe walked home quietly.

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><p><strong>NEVER GONNA GIVE YOU UP: RICK ASTLEY<strong>

Ralphie looked at his watch for the millionth time. His digital watch read 6:59 p.m. Keesha was due over his house at 7:00 and he wanted everything perfect. Tonight was the night the ninth grader would finally reveal his feeling to her. Ralphie had a crush on her ever since the third grade no amount of bickering changed his mind otherwise. He hoped Keesha would feel the same. Normally donning T-shirts and jeans, he decided to wear his black slacks, white blouse and loafers. Finally, at 7:05, the doorbell rang. When Ralphie answered, there stood the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. Keesha was wearing a black mini skirt, a black camisole that was glitter and clung to her torso and three inch black heels. Her makeup was subtle, but cute. Her naturally curly hair came to her shoulders and she paired it with a white headband.

"Hi, Keesh. You look gorgeous." Ralphie said. He wondered if she could hear his voice shaking.

"Hi, Ralphie. You look handsome. Very different" Keesha replied.

"Thanks. Come on in. I made dinner, and I hope you're hungry" he said, standing aside.

Keesha stepped in and inhaled. She smelled pasta and garlic bread. "Mmmm, that smells delicious. Is it Italian?"

"You bet!" Ralphie said as he closed the door. "Grandpa Tennelli helped me helped me cook. He was born in in a small town in Italy, and lived there until he was 21. Come on into the kitchen, everything is ready"

Over linguini and clams and freshly made garlic bread, the two chatted and laughed. He hoped this little ice breaker would make revealing his feeling less complicated and weird. After an Italian desert of zabaglione, the two sat on a blanket in the backyard. The stars were shining like diamonds that night and it felt very romantic. After a little small talk, he decided it was time.

"Keesh?" he began. His pulse began to race, and his palms were sweaty. "I have something…to say"

"Yeah, what is it?" Keesha questioned. Her own pulse was racing. Did she do something wrong? Did he hate her?

Ralphie decided to be blunt and just say it and get it over with. "Okay, I am NOT going to sugarcoat this. I like you, Keesha. I've liked you ever since third grade"

Keesha just stared at him. Her brown eyes were as wide as saucers and her mouth was slightly open. She felt like she gotten the wind knocked out of her. Ralphie began to panic and began to fear rejection. After a minute of silence, he spoke up,

"Keesh? Keesha, are you okay? Say something!" he pleaded.

"I…I like you too" Keesha said softly. She quickly looked down and picked off some invisible lint from her skirt.

Ralphie blinked. "You do?"

"Uh-huh" Keesha nodded, looking up slightly. "Also since third grade"

Ralphie couldn't help but to smile. Everything was turning out the way he wanted it to. He took Keesha's hand and she squeezed it.

"Why didn't you say anything to me before?" questioned Ralphie.

"Well, I was afraid you didn't like me back. We always bickered in third grade. And, my ex-boyfriend hurt me so bad, I was afraid of having my heartbroken again." Keesha replied, moving closer to him.

"Same. I dated other girls, but I just didn't feel that special connection I have to you. You won't have to worry about me breaking your heart. I will never hurt you. You'll always be an important person in my life. I know we're young and all, but, you are important to me. I'll never give up on you"

"Aww, Ralphie, you're important to me as well! You've always have been." Keesha said They were quiet for a minute. "Umm…I guess this means, we're a couple?" Keesha asked. Ralphie's smile was now a mile wide.

"If you want us to be" Ralphie said. Keesha just nodded and the two kissed to celebrate the start of their relationship.

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><p><strong>EVERY HEARTBEAT: AMY GRANT.<strong>

She hated it. She hated that she had a crush on the most popular guys in school, but Arnold Pearlstein was just everything she wanted in a potential boyfriend. He had the looks, the charms, the smarts, everything. He was captain of their high school's baseball team and was first chair in the all city band. But popular guys don't usually go for average, tall girls like Phoebe. Arnold often dated girls on the cheerleading squad or from the band, but those relationships didn't last long.

Prom was coming up, and she really wanted to go with him. After a lot of thought, she decided to write him a note to put in his locker. She felt like a silly 6th grader again with her "Will You Go To Prom With Me?" note, but she felt it was the best way to ask. She slipped it into his locker and took a deep breath, hoping he would give her the answer he wanted. She waited with bated breath all day to see whether he would accept or reject her invitation and couldn't hardly pay attention in class. Finally, school ended and she waltzed to her locker. She saw a familiar note sticking out. With a shaking hand, she grabbed it and opened it. Her face lit up like the Fourth of July. Arnold clearly circled "Yes" As she stared, she felt someone tap her shoulder. She turned and was face to face with Arnold. He handed her an origami flower.

"You'll really go to prom with me?" she squealed.

"Yes, but only if you'll go as my girlfriend"

Phoebe nodded happily, and the two walked out of school, holding hands.

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><p><strong>AN**: I was inspired to do this from another author. It was hard, but challenging and fun. The Madea thing actually did happen on my senior cut day. I stayed home, haha. I hope you enjoy!


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